View the minutes from the Aug. 6 TCBDA

CLICK HERE to view the minutes from the August 6 TCBDA Fall Meeting.

In the NEWS!

The Daily Home is recognizing the efforts of local bands in the community.
Click here to view.

Good luck to everyone as you put on the finishing touches and the first football game approaches. It appears that the time has come and quickly too!

District II Meeting; Aug. 26, Gadsden City High School

The Fall Meeting for ABA District II band directors is this Tuesday, August 26th at Gadsden City High School. I want to encourage you all to attend this meeting so we can display our strong Talladega County contingent. I will be leaving Talladega HS at 6:00 p.m. if anyone would like to meet to caravan or carpool.

Below is the introductory letter from District II chair Missy Lindley. I am also attaching the Information Sheet that the District requests from each director and school. Bring this info with you along with your District Participation Fee.

Special note: notice the information in Missy's letter concerning the new scholarship in honor of long-time Alabama Band Director Regina King who passed away close to a year ago. Please consider a donation to this scholarship.

I will be leaving Talladega HS at 6:00 if anyone would like to meet to caravan or carpool.

David McDaniel

Alabama Bandmaster’s Association
District II: Missy Lindley, Chairman; Jeff
Gossett, Vice Chairman

Dear Directors,

I hope your
band camp has gone well and that you are off to a good start with school. I am
looking forward to serving as your Chairman for the next two years. I want to
thank Pam Smith for working so hard to make this transition an easy one. The
fall meeting will be Tuesday, August 26th at 7:00pm. The meeting will be at Gadsden City High School. A special thanks to Russ Waits and Steve Reagan for hosting this event. We are going casual this year and will have pizza, drinks and dessert while we are meeting. I know how crazy this time of year can be and that most of us come straight from band rehearsal. Maybe we will have better participation if things are more relaxed… just trying something new and hoping we can have everyone in attendance for this meeting. We can always go back to a restaurant next year if the majority wants to do that.


Please take a few minutes and fill out the membership form that you will receive in the next couple of days. I need this form immediately for the directory. I have attached the form if you would like to email the information. I really need for you to send an email address for quick correspondence. ABA is moving to paperless communication so please make sure your email address is correct and updated! I also need a cell phone number in case of emergencies. Any time any of your information changes, it is your responsibility to get that new information to me.

Also, please send the $25.00 district participation fee by September 5th. We are also asking that each school send an additional $10.00 to start the Regina King Memorial Scholarship. We may not have enough money this first year for a decent size scholarship, but we plan to start that program with our first recipient in the
spring of 2010. You may include the $10.00 in your district participation check.
I hope everyone will support this endeavor so we are able to help a child begin
their career in music education that Regina loved so dearly. I will also need a
copy of your updated MENC card. Remember your membership must be current for your students to participate in ABA events.

I am in the process of updating the directory. If you have a new director in your area, please send me their name and school or contact them and ask them to send me all their information ASAP. I need to get all the updates to Gene Gooch ASAP! If your bookkeeper has an automated system, remember to update ABA District II to my school address and not Pam’s! The best way to assure it is going to the right
person on time is to mail it yourself!

I look forward to seeing you on Aug. 26th at Gadsden City High School.

Musically,

Missy Lindley
Chairman,District II
mlindley@albertk12.org

Talladega Bands 2008 Field Shows!!!!

Band directors,

Post your 2008 Field Show on this blog or reply to this post and I will be happy to add your show. I overheard bits and pieces of your show ideas during our Fall Meeting so I thought this would be a good place to display all of our shows.

I'll go first: The Talladega High School Band show is entitled "Who's That Masked Man?" The first song is a medley of The Batman Theme from the Motion Picture, Spiderman TV Theme, Phantom of the Opera, Glory Days from The Incredibles, and The Ride from Zorro. Our 2nd song is Hey, Pacuco! from the Jim Carrey movie "The Mask". Our last movement will be the jazz standard This Masquerade and will then go in to Cirque Du Soleil's Urban to close the show.

We will have masks, superheroes, and other mask-type items to tie in all the visual elements with the music.

Tag, your next...

A Productive Fall Meeting!

Thanks to you all for attending the Fall meeting of the Talladega County Band Directors Association. We appreciate Mike Sims and Munford High School for hosting the workshop and offer special thanks to Danielle Todd for organizing the meals.

I want to encourage you to drop Dr. Frank Buck a line and let him know how much you enjoyed the workshop, "Get Organized: Time Management for Band Directors". I know you all received helpful hints to help ease your time and enable you to spend more time doing the things you want to do.

Best of luck to you all as you begin your 2008-2009 school year.

Santa Clara Van Guard is here!

Feel free to take an afternoon trip to Talladega High School this afternoon and see the award winning Santa Clara Van Guard Drum and Bugle Corp. They arrived early this morning and will be here on campus today to practice before their performance tonight at Jacksonville State University. They are Scheduled to be in rehearsal from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The best time to see them is around 3:00 for their run through of the show. After the run through they will begin to pack up for the show.

We hope to see you there!

Another Drum Corp Opportunity right here in Talladega!

We have been very fortunate this year to have two great opportunities very close and convenient for everyone. In June we were honored to host Spirit Drum and Bugle Corp on our campus for an entire week and on Sunday, July 28, 2008, the 6 time national champions, Santa Clara Vanguard will be on our campus for the day. We would like to invite you and your students to drop by and see Santa Clara Vanguard in action. More information about the corp can be viewed by clicking here.

Santa Clara Vanguard will travel from a performance in Atalanta, GA on July 26, 2008, and will rehearse on our campus in preparation for the Drum Corp show scheduled at Jacksonville State University on Sunday, July 27, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. For more information about Drum Corp or for scheduling and ticket information click here.

Times of arrival and depart for Santa Clara Vanguard will be announced as soon as we have the information available.

We hope you decide to visit our campus and join us in this great musical opportunity!

If you have questions or need additional information feel free to contact David McDaniel.

TCBDA Annual Meeting

The TCBDA annual meeting will take place on August 6 at the Munford High School band room. Dr. Frank Buck will present a seminar entitled “Get Organized! Time Management for High School Band Directors.”

Frank’s “Get Organized! Time Management for School Leaders” is a detailed book geared toward school educators. Frank has become an expert in the area of time management and will tailor this session just for us.

You can obtain a copy of Frank’s book by clicking here.

After Dr. Buck’s seminar we will conduct TCBDA business. Bring your band calendars so we can finalize upcoming events. We’ll conclude our meeting with a catered lunch.

• 8:00-8:30 Arrival, continental type breakfast (Munford High School band room)
• 8:30-10:00 Get Organized! Time Management for High School Band Directors. (Dr. Frank Buck, Talladega City Schools)
• 10:00-10:15 Break
• 10:15-11:30 TCBDA Annual Meeting
• 11:30-12:30 Lunch

Please check with your principal to ensure your attendance at this meeting.

Marching Band!

It's 90 degrees outside, everyone is staying inside at all costs, and what do bands do? Get out there and march and play so that they can present an entertaining halftime show for each and every football game and practice until its perfect enough to take it to competition.

Most of the time this entails standing in a position, responding to instructions as you move from position to position and somehow playing at the same time, then doing it over and over again until you have as perfect as possible.

Have you ever wondered how all of those little dots get on the paper, or how you are told where to go. Is it magic? Here is an interesting website that gives you a small and fun glimpse into the production side of the Marching Band Show process. Click here

Here you can watch shows that other people created, as well as create your own show. Its a fun way to try your hand at creating a marching band show and going wherever your imagination leads!

Enjoy!

Come OUT and SEE!

Spirit Drum and Bugle Corp is right in your back yard. Spirit is staying on the campus of Talladega High School the week of Sunday, June 1, 2008- Saturday, June, 7, 2008.

Get a group of friends and come on over anytime throughout the week to see young musicians hard at work . All rehearsals are welcome to observers.

The schedule varies daily but will be similar to the following:

8:00-12:00 Marching (basics, marching segments)

Lunch Break

1:00-5:00 Music Sectionals

Dinner Break

6:30-9:00 Full Ensemble (on the THS band practice field)

This is a great opportunity for bands in our county to get to see what its like up close and personal to a drum and bugle corp and what it entails.